Laura Snook

Title: Programme Leader, Forest Genetic Resources Conservation and Use.

Laura is also the coordinator of Component 2, Management and Conservation of Forest and Tree Resources, CGIAR Research Programme 6, on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry.

Duty post: Bioversity HQ, Rome, Italy

Laura joined Bioversity in May, 2005. An American, she was born in Syria and grew up in Libya. Before Bioversity, Laura led the Sustainable Forest Management Programme at CIFOR and prior to this, taught Conservation Biology at Duke University and led the joint Duke -The Nature Conservancy programme on research for in situ conservation.

She is known for her research on the ecology and management of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), the most valuable neotropical timber species, and has consulted on forest conservation and management, non-timber forest products and community forestry for FAO, the World Bank, WWF, WRI and others.

Laura’s career began at Mexico’s National Institute for Research on Biotic Resources (INIREB) in Xalapa, Veracruz, where she led forest research and taught in the Masters programme (6 years). She has done research on temperate and tropical forests and trees in the US, Mexico, Belize, Boliva, Brazil, Peru, Niger, Indonesia, and, currently, the Congo Basin and the miombo woodlands of Mozambique.

She has supervised 21 Masters theses, earning an award for Distinguished Mentoring from Duke University, and has published more than 60 scientific papers. She has served on several Boards and sits on the Executive Committee of the Tropical Forest Foundation.

Credentials:

Doctor of Forestry, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, USA

Masters in Forest Science, Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

Bachelor of Arts in History, Grinnell College, USA.

Languages:

Mother tongue English, fluent Spanish, can read and get along in French, Portuguese and Italian. Familiar with basic Bahasa Indonesia.

Recent publications:

L. Snook, M. E. Dulloo, A. Jarvis, X. Scheldeman, M. Kneller. 2011. Crop Germplasm Diversity – the role of gene bank collections in facilitating adaptation to climate change. Chapter 25 in Yadav, Redden, Hatfield, and Lotze-Campen (eds), Crop Adaptation to Climate Change. John Wiley.
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E. Haglund, E. J. Ndjeunga, L. Snook and D. Pasternak. 2011. Dry Land Tree Management for Improved Household Livelihoods: Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration in Niger. Journal of Environmental Management 92:1996-1705.
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Boscolo, M., L. Snook & L. Quevedo. 2009. Adoption of sustainable forest management practices in Bolivian timber concessions: A quantitative assessment. International Forestry Review 4: 2 (4): p. 99 – 108.
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L. Snook, E. Dulloo, B. Vinceti. 2008. Not just the forest, but the trees: Research on the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources. BG Journal (1):12-15.
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